MINSK GROUP CO-CHAIRS SEEK PEACEFUL SETTLEMENT OF KARABAKH CONFLICT

ITAR-TASS News Agency, Russia
May 24, 2007 Thursday

Co-chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group on Nagorno Karabakh from France
Bernar Fassier said on Wednesday "neither Washington nor Moscow nor
Paris consider war as a variant of the Karabakh conflict settlement."

"There is no other alternative, but peaceful settlement by means of
negotiations that will be advantageous for the conflicting parties,"
he said.

On Thursday, Fassier and his Russian counterpart Yuri Merzlyakov
completed the latest round of talks in Yerevan.

He pointed out that mediators – Russia, France and the U.S. – try to
help the conflicting parties reach a compromise, but neither of them
can offer "easy solution of the problem."

"To make breakthroughs in the settlement process the parties and their
presidents should display political will and necessary determination"
to reach a compromise, Fassier said.

"We cannot take decisions for the conflicting parties," he said.

"The Group’s co-chairmen believe that from a certain moment of
negotiations it will be necessary and useful for representatives of
Nagorno Karabakh to take part in them in compliance with a formula
created by the parties," he said.

The diplomat believes if this year the parties fail to coordinate
basic principles of the conflict settlement, then the talks will be
frozen at first by the presidential poll in Armenia and subsequently
– in Azerbaijan. After this it will be necessary to begin the talks
from scratch.

Earlier in the day, the Group’s co-chairmen left for Baku for
talks with the Azerbaijani authorities. They informed that they
plan to return to the region in early June this time together with
U.S. mediator Matthew Bryza.